Showing @ Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Thu 20 Jun & Cineworld, Edinburgh, Sun 30 Jun

Anthony Wonke / UK / 2013 / 93 mins

After the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, the world became fixated with the environmental impacts of off shore drilling calamities. 22 years before however, with the Piper Alpha catastrophe the biggest issue wasn’t the effect on nature but the massive loss of human life. Anthony Wonke’s affecting documentary, based on Stephen McGinty’s book, retells this tragic story using dramatic reconstructions and interviews with survivors.

The first hand accounts of escape and rescue paint a painfully harrowing picture of confusion and turmoil. The biggest accident of it’s kind, the scale of the explosion is pretty much unfathomable, but at one point 30 tonnes of gas per second fed the fireball encapsulating the rig. Instead of anger and anguish, the overriding emotion of those remembering is regret for the men who didn’t make it. Rather than the plumes of fire, what seems to have made the most impact is the deafening sound, with one man calling it a ‘cacophony of hell’. Accompanied by an appropriately haunting soundtrack, the film is highly evocative, with some men still tearing up over 24 years later. Despite tackling such an emotionally charged subject, Wonke balances this tenderness with information, including detailed graphics of the rig’s layout so even a layman can understand what’s being described. This is a deeply moving testament to the bravery shown by some ordinary men facing extraordinary circumstances.

Showing as part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2013

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